Amazon Fresh gains more ground in SoCal
Amazon Fresh has opened its 11th grocery store in Southern California, the banner’s 1st in Ventura County. The approximately 35,000-square-foot Amazon Fresh, located at 742 Los Angeles Avenue, in Moorpark, California, gives customers the option to skip the checkout line, thanks to the company’s Just Walk Out technology.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: SpartanNash sees fiscal 2021 net sales decline across segments
After tallying gains a year ago from an extra business week and pandemic-driven demand, SpartanNash reported declined net sales across the board for its 2021 4th quarter and fiscal year, missing Wall Street’s earnings-per-share estimates in both periods. For the 12-week quarter ended January 1, net sales came in at $2.09bln, down 6.8% from $2.25bln in the 13-week quarter a year earlier, SpartanNash said. Excluding about $158.9mln from the extra week in fiscal 2020, fiscal 2021 4th-quarter net sales were virtually flat, up 0.2%.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Beyond Meat shares tumble after reporting wider-than-expected loss & shrinking revenue
Beyond Meat’s stock tumbled after the company reported a wider-than-expected loss and shrinking revenue in its 4th quarter. CEO Ethan Brown said in a statement that the company expects to “substantially moderate” the growth of its operating expenses in 2022. The company’s revenue outlook for 2022 also fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.
Source: cnbc.com
Canada: Loblaw beats estimates for quarterly revenue
Canadian retailer Loblaw Cos Ltd beat market estimates for quarterly revenue, as demand for groceries and other essential items stayed strong. Total revenue fell to C$12.76bln ($9.94bln) in the 4th quarter ended January 1 from C$13.29bln a year earlier. Analysts had expected C$12.64bln, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Source: reuters.com
E-commerce firm "fabric" hits valuation of $1.5 bln after SoftBank-led funding
E-commerce tech platform fabric said it has reached a valuation of about $1.5bln after a new funding round led by Japan’s SoftBank, as the company looks to cash in on the pandemic-fueled surge in demand for online shopping. Founded in 2017, fabric offers a “headless” commerce platform as a service to retailers, merchandisers and sellers to streamline their e-commerce operations. The so-called “headless” commerce separates the front- and back-ends of e-commerce websites and applications, which allow brands greater flexibility and faster page-loads.
Source: reuters.com
UK retail sales growth slows in Feb, price pressures mount - CBI
British retailers reported slower sales growth in February but said demand was better than normal for the time of year as the Omicron wave of coronavirus cases eased, according to a Confederation of British Industry survey. The CBI’s monthly retail sales balance halved to +14 in February from +28 in January, a bigger fall than economists’ forecasts in a Reuters poll for a small decline to +25. However sales for the time of year improved sharply in February from January, with the balance rising to +16 from -23.
Source: reuters.com
Kenya: Food delivery startup KUNE targets $3.5mln to stimulate expansion across Nairobi
With plans to expand into other towns in Kenya within the next 12 months as the demand for homemade healthy meals on order gains momentum, Kenyan food delivery startup Kune has officially begun commercial operations with 4 meal hubs located in strategic locations in Nairobi. Kune, which is in the 2nd phase of fundraising, is targeting to raise $3.5mln (KES400mln) from local and international investors to increase production capacity and build a countrywide footprint by 2024.
Source: techeconomy.ng
Holland: Ahold Delhaize announces the nomination of a new member to its Supervisory Board
Ahold Delhaize announced the nomination of Pauline van der Meer Mohr for appointment to Ahold Delhaize’s Supervisory Board. The Supervisory Board will propose the appointment to the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Shareholders on April 13, 2022.
Source: aholddelhaize.com
Big scene change: Match turns into Louis Delhaize in Belgium
Over the next few years, Match supermarkets in Belgium will be switching to a new brand and concept: Louis Delhaize Open Market. The stores will be upgraded and will focus more on fresh foods and the Louis private label, which will grow from 600 to 2,400 products. E-commerce will also have its place in the strategy, with pick-up areas for online orders, said CEO Jean-Marc van Cutsem to Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad. The smaller Smatch supermarkets will become Louis Delhaize stores, following successful trials in Ertvelde and Lendelede.
Source: retaildetail.eu
Allegro: ‘revenue €1.14bln in 2021’
Major Polish ecommerce marketplace Allegro has announced that its revenue reached 1.14bln euros in 2021. This is a 33.9% growth when compared to the year before. The company expects that it will keep up the same growth rate in 2022. The popular marketplace was founded in 1999 in Poland. In its recently published Q4 financial report, it announced that it now has 15.5mln active users. Around 133.000 merchants use the platform, making it a worthy competitor of Amazon in Poland.
Source: ecommercenews.eu
UK: Asda store colleagues to share £27.8mln bonus pot
Asda has confirmed that 103,000 hourly-paid store colleagues across the UK will share a £27.8mln bonus pot in February’s pay packet. While the amount each colleague receives depends on their individual circumstances, the average bonus for a store colleague working full time is £413, while the average figure for all hourly-paid store colleagues is £269.
Source: corporate.asda.com
French retailer Casino confident of 2022 sales despite profit drop
Casino said it was confident it would recover sales momentum this year in France and also improve cash flow generation after reporting a 12% fall in 2021 group operating profit to 1.193bln euros ($1.34bln). The French retailer, which has been selling assets to cut debt, said the pace of its disposal plan slowed because of the pandemic-fueled curbs. However, it now aims to complete the final 1.3bln euro chunk of its disposal plan of 4.5bln euros by the end of 2023.
Source: reuters.com
COO of Penny Germany Stefan Magel steps down
Stefan Magel, the chief operating officer and divisional director of Penny Germany has decided to step down and will leave the company on 30 September 2022 after his contract expires. Magel spent 13 years with REWE Group and served as the CEO of toom Baumarkt. He joined the management board of Penny Germany in 2011 and stepped in as the divisional director/COO of Penny in 2016.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Ireland: Excitement builds as store number 150 for Aldi set to open in Cahersiveen
Excitement is building locally in Cahersiveen as Aldi’s highly anticipated new store, its landmark 150th store in Ireland, gets ready to open its doors at its Abbey Place location on Thursday, March 3. The new store will be the supermarket chain’s westernmost store in Europe.
Source: independent.ie
Croatia: Retailers race to reduce prices ahead of 1 April deadline
Croatian retailers are racing to reduce prices of food and non-food items after the government’s announcement of a reduction in VAT from 1 April. Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković presented measures to mitigate the rise in energy prices, worth almost HRK5bln (€640mln). The VAT rate on fresh meat and fish, eggs, fruits and vegetables, edible oils and fats and baby food will be reduced from 13% to 5%.
Source: esmmagazine.com